This meat-trade Muslim community is taking the onus of protecting cows in UP

After a recent crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses by the Uttar Pradesh government, now Qureshi community which deals in meat trade, has now taken it on themselves to protect cows in the state. They have ordered that no member from the community should indulge in the cow slaughter. Also, those who do not comply with the order will be boycotted from the community

The decision was taken after a meeting held by The All India Jamiatul Quresh in Lucknow on Thursday. Siraj Qureshi, national president of the All India Jamiatul Quresh, said, “Our community is always seen with suspicion, as if we are engaged in cow slaughter all the time. It is not so. We want to remove this misconception and have decided to take the initiative of protecting cows.”

On locking down of slaughterhouses in the state, Siraj said that meat sellers in the state are in touch with the officials and are confident that government will renew their licences.

Earlier, the newly formed government in the state had ordered shutting down of all the slaughterhouses which are running illegally. After the announcement, several meat sellers in Lucknow went on strike demanding that the ban put on slaughterhouses should be removed.

They hold previous government responsible for the situation. Meat shop owners in Lucknow said that as Samajwadi party did not renew their licence, as a result, now their legal businesses have turned illegal. They said that due to ignorance shown by the authorities now the crackdown has hit their livelihood